Reviews tagging 'Classism'

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

26 reviews

krhe's review against another edition

mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

La parte final no me sorprendió (hablo de la idea que tiene cierto personaje a la altura del 80% del libro), pero ni tan mal. He estado enganchada al drama, que es una cosa que siempre está bien, y el personaje de Nate no me ha disgustado. Quiero especialmente a Addy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Outing

Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Gaslighting, and Classism

badvision's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Murder, and Outing

Moderate: Cursing, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Abandonment, and Classism

tak_everlasting's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Murder

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Outing, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

abookandaspotoftea's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Classism

allyhoo811's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

From a pure reading enjoyment factor One of Us Is Lying should have been given a 4 star rating, but because of my background in mental health counseling/education I felt like I had to lower it to a 3 because of the handling of a couple of issues which I'll list at the end of this review.

Overall, I found this to an engaging YA mystery. The characters and their secrets/motives were pretty cliche and easily guessed, but the overall character development (especially with Addy) was wonderful and I would definitely recommend this one to most people. It gave me huge Breakfast Club vibes and I think fans of 80s/90s teen movies would especially enjoy the nostalgia factor even though it has a contemporary setting. 

I did not love the ending/epilogue,

it was just too cheesy teen rom-com for me and I don't think it really fit with the rest of the book. But I understand that it probably is what was expected in a YA novel.

My 2 Big Issues (contain major spoilers):

1. Simon killing himself was a really interesting (if somewhat predictable) twist, but the portrayal of Simon as someone suffering from depression was unfortunate. Many people (teens included) suffer from depression, but they don't create elaborate, evil revenge plots to take out everyone who ever looked at them funny. Most people with depression have a hard time getting out of bed. And Simon had been destroying people's lives for years, portraying him as someone who was depressed and felt like an outsider when he was actually probably suffering from some severe personality disorders puts a bad light on depression, especially in a YA book.

2. Jake's character arc. This is a thriller trope I hate, and I hate it even more in a YA mystery. Jake the "perfect" boyfriend with some controlling tendances turns into a psycho killer at the end of the novel. This is just so overdone and not logical. Yes, people who attempt to control their partners are more likely to engage in emotional and physical abuse. But Jake had gone months without the slightest indication that he was escalating after he found out about the cheating (and kept it to himself). His mask didn't even slip once. And by the end we have a crazy action sequence where he is trying to kill two people without any hesitation. It felt forced, and I think Addy's character arc would have been better served without the killer boyfriend trope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Stalking